


Christmas Special

by william0102



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Hollstein - Freeform, LaFontaine/Lola Perry (implied)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 15:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3073508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/william0102/pseuds/william0102
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at the Christmas Special. Mainly from Carmilla's perspective. Laura/Carmilla.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Special

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what it was about the special, but I wanted to make it a little more angsty and put my spin on it. This is my first time writing a Carmilla story, so please hold judgment on the quality of the piece until the end. It was really hard trying to write this from Carmilla's pov, and I know it gets confusing in a few spots. I really hope people like this because I've enjoyed so many stories in this fandom.

Carmilla let her eyes roam around her surroundings as they stood in the town square, Laura and the ginger squad seemingly enraptured like the rest of the crowd by the longwinded mayor and his tiresome speech about solidarity. Of course, the humans would be won over by ugly Christmas sweaters and the possibility of lodging that wasn’t nylon sleeping bags and tents. They probably thought there was going to be some grand feast once the speech ended. Carmilla rolled her eyes at the thought, resisting her ever increasing desire to find blood from something other than small forest animals too stupid to survive winter.

Glancing back at Laura, Carmilla studied the tiny human, troubled by Laura’s pensive expression. Laura hid it well, had done so since they had left Silas, but Carmilla knew something was wrong with her girlfriend. The slightly furrowed brows reminded her of when Laura had realized it was impossible to beat Maman. Only now, the need to find Betty was replaced by determination to remain positive in spite of fleeing Silas. Carmilla looked away from Laura, unsure of how to reassure the smaller girl. 

Laura had suggested running, although she knew it was only a kneejerk reaction to the news about Maman, to the pain they had both gone through trying to save everyone. Still, Carmilla had known Laura would have done the right thing and stayed, if they hadn’t been forced to evacuate. Thanks to Laura, none of it seemed quite so pointless, right and wrong, moral and immoral; however, her lack of empathy throughout the centuries was catching up to her, making it difficult for her to comfort Laura. 

Carmilla dug her phone out of her pocket and fiddled with it, subjecting herself to the stupid piece of technology in the hopes that it might bring a smile to Laura’s face. It was either text like an actual college student, or listen to the blowhard on the small stage. If she had to listen to him go on about the big bad oupirs, she wouldn’t be held accountable for her actions. Struggling to get to the texting screen, she clicked on the icon that let her go to some website and text. Carmilla couldn’t remember the difference between tweeting and texting, but she figured either way the worthless device would let Laura see her message.

Focusing her gaze back towards the mayor, Carmilla hid her smile when she heard the slight buzzing of a cellphone. Staring straight ahead, hiding her growing irritation as the red-faced mayor launched into a tirade against oupirs, Carmilla felt the shifting of the air as Laura pulled out her phone. She expected Laura to chuckle or hold her hand, and when neither happened, Carmilla looked towards her girlfriend. The flash of disappointment that crossed over the tiny angelic face burned itself in Carmilla’s brain, hotter than her anger at the idiotic mayor, sharper than the gnawing in her veins and incisors.

Carmilla glared at the mayor, aware of Laura messing with the phone, but uncaring of whatever the journalism major would type. When her phone briefly flared to life, she checked it, a surge of frustration breaking through at the random tweet that could have been to anyone. What the fuck was a tweet anyway, did some lamebrain really think this was anything like carrier pigeons? She really didn’t know why she bothered to follow Laura if they couldn’t use the stupid machines to talk. 

Clenching a fist, Carmilla mentally berated the tiny human for being so oblivious. She quickly tweeted again, letting her ire with the mayor for going on about vampires get the better of her. She waited for a response, as general as it would be, wondering if loving Laura meant she would always have to use such juvenile means of communication. Put off by the thought, Carmilla grabbed Laura’s hand and held it, refusing to acknowledge the girl or let go of the limb when Laura’s phone vibrated.

“Did you get a signal?”

The sight of the science ginger peeking at Laura’s phone did nothing to quell Carmilla’s silent irritation with everything that had gone wrong in the last few weeks. 

“No, it’s buzzing because the North Pole has a shield keeping people from finding it that also happens to amplify cellphone coverage.” Carmilla scoffed, her eyes never once wavering from the increasingly red-faced man. One more word about vampires, or oupirs since the man was so deeply entrenched in the old ways that he couldn’t even be bothered to join them in the twenty-first century, and she would forget about hunting and just drain the annoying human.

The sudden lack of warmth and pressure on her hand had Carmilla regretting the small outburst, though she bottled that inside as well. A loud shush from Perry’s direction and the sound of dry skin rubbing a cotton-covered arm had Carmilla rolling her eyes again. Did they really think they were fooling anyone? The uptight one referred to herself as her last name in a show of solidarity for LaFontaine. She assumed that was the case anyway, even if Perry slipped and used the wrong pronouns in times of stress. 

“Really, Carm? No one forced you to wear the sweater. Don’t take your cynical anti-commercialism stance on Christmas out on these nice people. I happen to think Laf might have a point since we’re not getting texts from anyone outside of Silas.” 

“Whatever, creampuff.” Carmilla silently huffed; of course, the North Pole remark garnered Laura’s attention, not the stupid texts or tweets. Trust the tiny human not to notice her learning how to use those stupid social media sites. Granted it was a ridiculous overture in terms of showing her feelings for Laura, but if she could learn and Perry could try to undo years on engrained speech to make LaFontaine happy, then couldn’t Laura figure out how to not be so oblivious? It wasn’t like she was asking Laura to go around biting people. She wasn’t like the Jolly Red Giant, trying to protect Laura from everything. Was it really too much to expect Laura to let her in, to accept her shoulder and comfort.

A new turn of phrase made her head snap to attention. Minions. Carmilla held in a growl as the mayor started railing that the town had to stand up against the oupir and their minions. She had no idea of their location, but Carmilla was sure that she had never been to the town before. Her eyes never left the mayor, looking at him closer. Wondering what were the chances that she had wandered through this town during one of her attempts to distance herself from Maman, Carmilla stilled. There had been plenty of free time in-between sacrifices, although she couldn’t remember the last time the impotency of being a pawn, nothing more than bait, had driven her from Silas. 

Carmilla studied the mayor, trying to figure out if he was a descendant of someone that had once been a snack, or a now grown witness to her past misdeeds. When the man gave another rallying cry, denouncing humans that served vampires, Carmilla felt the empty space in her chest fill with something, a shudder coursing through the confines of her cold, dead body. She glared back at the man whose eyes paused on her for a moment too long in her opinion. Refusing to look over at Laura and the gingers, she realized they were vastly outnumbered, under nourished, along with the fact that the dimwits still thought of the town as their salvation.

She faintly heard the buzzing of her phone and LaFontaine questioning if Silas’s mystical peculiarities had somehow transferred to them and their belongings, although she disregarded them and Laura debating the question. Carmilla tried to figure out how they could escape the crowd, if she had actually been to the town or anywhere nearby before. Carmilla scowled, knowing that the odds weren’t in their favor against a lynch mob. She could grab Laura and put miles between them and the town if it wouldn’t upset Laura to leave behind her friends, but honestly, no one could expect her to carry three humans and make sure they didn’t get maimed or killed attempting to escape. 

It wasn’t like she could tell the group her suspicions. There was no way they wouldn’t freak out, or in Laf’s case, stop to ask the townspeople how they went about organizing an angry mob. Carmilla let out a growl, this time the idea of Laura trying to talk down angry citizens from eviscerating them winning as the likely reaction from her girlfriend. Before she questioned herself, Carmilla raced through the crowd, to the mayor that was walking to the rickety wooden steps at the side of the stage. She discard fifteen different plans in the five seconds it took her to get through to the stage, eventually settling on going with what came naturally.

Her hands were wrapped around the pudgy human’s shoulders, hustling him down the steps and behind the stage, her hunger and rage fueling her. Her fangs sank into his neck before the man could even shout oupir one last time. The tang of blood filled her nostrils as she drank, losing herself in the taste of the rich liquid after weeks of pathetic animal substitutes. Carmilla snarled, the alcohol in the mayor’s blood an unwelcome aftertaste. She hated gin. As the blood warmed her up and heightened her deprived senses, she wondered how she hadn’t smelled it before, the air reeked with alcohol that would be undetectable to everyone else.

Carmilla shut her eyes, completely ignoring as the man hit at her and tried to get away, her mind on listening out for Laura. The crowd was starting to yell, their shared confusion about her faster than lighting actions replaced by fear and wrath. Carmilla debated the usefulness of going back on stage and draining the man in front of the town, no one would touch them then. It was a sudden shout of her name that reminded her that killing wasn’t the best option, not if she wanted to protect her human traveling companions.

Carmilla pulled back from the mayor’s neck, wrapping her hand around his fragile neck as she dragged him back out in front of the crowd. She could use him as a shield for her humans and a bargaining chip for the mob. Maybe she could talk Laura into letting her finish her snack once they were safe. 

The din of angry shouts was pierced with a “Carmilla, no!” The vampire’s eyes immediately settling on Laura and the rest of their group. She sighed at the sight of her girlfriend and the Wonder Twins racing through the crowd to get to her. Did they hear nothing about the talk of minions, or were their convoluted human emotions driving them to act irrationally once again? She pondered the idea as she tightened her grip on the mayor’s arm and neck. “Everyone back off!” Carmilla let a loud growl escape, successfully stopping everyone for a moment. Unfortunately, that included Laura and the gingers, now standing next to her and the stage.

“Don’t just stand there you idiots, run!” Carmilla resisted rolling her eyes, shoving the mayor at the villagers, the closest of the townspeople now closing in on their group. Carmilla grabbed Laura’s hand, shouting as she ran, spurring the gingers along. “Move!” She barreled through the crowd, making a way out of the human sea for them to escape. 

“What were you thinking? No, forget that, you weren’t.” Laura’s hand securely clutched within her own, Carmilla immediately felt the drag of her girlfriend’s slower speed. She reduced her speed so she didn’t accidentally hurt Laura, so the others could keep up, all the while ignoring the frantic babbling at her shoulder. “I know he was annoying and a blowhard, but that doesn’t mean you can just eat him, Carmilla! Where are we going to go now?”

Carmilla fought the urge to grab Laura and put her hand over the tiny human’s mouth. “Maybe you can yell at me later when we aren’t running for our lives?” Spotting a cluster of rundown buildings farther down the main dirt road, she abruptly changed directions, causing Laura to run into her. Grunting with the impact, Carmilla dragged Laura through the outcropping of buildings, shouting over Laura’s continued complaining for the world’s worst non-couple couple to run faster.

Carmilla scanned their possible exits, finally choosing on an abandoned looking diner, quickly deciding she could hold off the crowd while Laura and the others escaped out the back entrance if it came down to it. “Don’t stop, follow me no matter what.” Carmilla didn’t wait for an answer, letting go of Laura’s hand and using her vampiric speed to run ahead and pry off the boards covering the entrance. Three hundred years of loneliness and an internment that nearly cost her any sane thought was all but a passing second, nightmare fodder, since she had the ability to save her tiny human. Carmilla ripped the chains threaded through the handles of the diner doors, tossing the metal aside carelessly.

Kicking all the debris away from the door, Carmilla was pleased to see Laura not that far from their hovel of a sanctuary. With the redheads right behind her girlfriend, Carmilla turned her attention back to the door, wrenching the locked and rusted metal open. It wouldn’t be long before the villagers caught up, she only needed to stall long enough for the humans to make it to the diner. Carmilla ran past the three, shouting for them to get inside the diner. 

Rounding the edge of the closest building, she skidded to a halt, relieved to see that the townspeople hadn’t even reached the opposite side of the building. Ducking back out of sight, Carmilla watched to make sure the idiots were inside the diner before she raced back to the small brick building. At least Laura would be happy that she hadn’t hurt anyone else to facilitate their escape, that had to count for something.  
****

Once Carmilla had moved a shelf to block the entrance, she turned to look at everyone, Laura and the others still spazzing about the crowd outside the diner. An hour ago, the display of frightened panicking from Laura would have sent her into a furor, but after her little mayoral snack, Carmilla felt more like herself, and not some half-starved bear voluntarily cuffing themselves to three giant walking salmons. 

Laura pushed back from the shelf obstructing the entrance, definitely not frustrated that she had been more of a hindrance in moving the giant piece of furniture than a help to Carmilla. She was still angry with the vampire. Who decides to try to eat the mayor of the first town they come across? Seriously. Laura moved to pick up some of the books that had been on display on the shelf, but she realized it was a useless gesture. She could practically taste the dust in the air. A glance at Laf and Perry reinforced her need to walk away when she noticed them picking up the books and shelving them.

Carmilla watched Laura, wanting to reach out and hold the smaller girl’s hand. She held back because she hadn’t forgotten the mini rant during their run through town. Really though, was she supposed to stop and explain that they were in danger when she knew how stressed and spent Laura and the redheads were? She refused to apologize for saving their lives. “So, cutie,” Carmilla didn’t finish her sentence, the blazing anger in Laura’s eyes a surefire clue that the rant wasn’t over by any means.

Laura started pacing, the roar of the townspeople not helping her think. She knew Carmilla had been hungry. She could forgive her girlfriend for biting someone, but to so thoughtlessly ruin their chances at the first piece of civilization they’d reached in twenty days was too much. Laura stopped her circuit and spun to face Carmilla. “I’m trying really hard not to be angry, because I know you’re just as hungry as the rest of us, but did you have to pick the person everyone was watching?”

Carmilla almost flinched at the disdain in Laura’s voice, the angry flushed cheeks that she would normally find cute and adorable. Instead, Carmilla schooled her features into a hard mask and lounged back against the shelf, unmoving as Perry tried to put a book away near her hip before changing her mind and grabbing the other ginger and scurrying away. “Well, he was the most annoying one. Would it have been better if I had picked the little old lady that gave us these abominable sweaters?”

Flustered by the vampire, Laura started to reach out, wanting to shake Carmilla. “What about not eating anyone at all? We could have asked them about a butcher’s shop, or a hospital, but now they want to kill us or run us out of town! Was this because of the sweaters and the speech? You’re always going on about how I’m a kid, and we’re all just playing games, but you just tried to eat someone because you have the patience of a three-year-old and hate Christmas!”

Prepared for the yelling this time, Carmilla didn’t react to the hurtful deluge of words. It wasn’t even like she could tell Laura what had really happened, that the town would have turned on them the second they had tried to ask about blood. No, one of the ginger twins would probably try to say she was lying, forget that she had just saved them from being burnt or beaten to death. Carmilla coolly eyed Laura, deciding to let the tantrum pass. She could explain once the humans had eaten and calmed down.

Laura had wanted to take back the words as soon as they left her mouth; however, the lack of snarky, biting response from Carmilla led her to believe that she was right. She wanted to cry. Things had started to look up, though now it was all ruined, and they were probably going to be hunted down if they stepped foot outside of their temporary shelter. Laura watched her girlfriend for a second before turning away, unable to take the look of indifference in Carmilla’s eyes. She was tired, so tired, and her whole body ached, but most of all her stomach and her heart. The thought that they were in danger again, that she didn’t know about the rest of her friends, that her dad had no idea what was going on. It was just too much.

Carmilla pretended not to watch when Laura walked away from her. It probably wasn’t the best time to bring up planning their next move, so she wandered around the diner, trying to find something to occupy herself with so she didn’t brood over her latest disastrous attempt at being a good girlfriend. Not to mention that the whole reason she had picked the diner was that the others needed food, somewhere warm to rest.

Carmilla leaned against the counter with a register on it, positioning herself so she had a clear view of the directions the villagers would come from. The other two students flitted in and out of her vision as they went back to stocking the books and alternately checking to see how close the mob was to their location. She wanted to tell them to get away from the windows, but if Laura was upset with her, then there was good chance that Laf and Perry were also. Carmilla resolved herself to rushing past them if she had to save the three from the angry townspeople.

She saw more people joining the mob thanks to her vampiric vision, regrettably that meant she saw the pitchforks, axes and torches that were now being passed around. Carmilla frowned at the idea of the humans with her being turned into skewers for the backwoods villagers. She considered leaving her impromptu post and gathering as much food as she could for her companions so they could make a hasty retreat out the back exit. Now that there was fire and imminent death involved though, she rejected the idea.

No, Laura would dislike it if she wasn’t in the room if the mob broke in. Not that she fancied the idea of not being around on the off chance that some drunkard riled the rest of the mob into striking all at once. For the time being though, the crowd seemed to be holding their position, just like her. Carmilla silently sighed, hearing Laura dig through Perry’s bag for something. 

Carmilla let her thoughts drift as she kept an eye on the distance between the crowd and the diner. She probably should have tried to tell Laura about her concern for their safety thanks to the mayor and the town’s stance on humans with vampires. Carmilla cringed at the idea of Laura thinking she was being overprotective like Xena or Laura’s father. Was she really not supposed to act though when Laura’s life, and the gingers, was in danger? As much as she didn’t want to apologize or talk in front of the others, Carmilla thought that would be better than trying to explain to Laura that she had been acting on instinct. Especially since she doubted Laura would think it had been a life or death situation before she had bit the mayor.

“Can you see them? Are they still coming?”

“I think we lost them in the trees that look like wicker people.”

Carmilla turned her head away from Lafontaine, wondering if anyone else realized that the trees that looked like “wicker people” were in fact wards, whether they were to keep people in or out, she wasn’t sure. Great, they might have to deal with some witches if they wanted to leave the hellhole town. What if the sweaters had a spell cast on them, making them act as some sort of homing beacon? The old woman had practically run straight at them to given them the clothes.

“What about there? That could be the torches! Get down!” The sound of Perry’s nervous observation had Carmilla turning toward the window again. Luckily, the high-strung redhead was overreacting, she didn’t see any torch wielding villagers closer than before. Carmilla stared out the window, just incase, even a Laura started to babble to that infernal camera once more. Maybe the bio ginger was right that their belongings were enchanted if that dumb thing and their phones still worked. 

“And because when we finally hiked to the nearest town and tried to explain our situation, someone,” Laura briefly looked back at Carmilla, making sure the vampire knew who she meant, but to her surprise, Carmilla was looking right at her. Laura turned back to the camera, pausing for a moment as she pushed away the thought that Carmilla was watching her. She wasn’t the one who should feel guilty. “Tried to bite the mayor, so they formed a mob.”

Carmilla ignored the ginger twins adding that they were being chased by simple villagers with pitchforks and torches, relieved that they hadn’t seen the axes yet. However, hearing Laura point out that they were more or less minutes from being under siege reminded her that she needed to remain calm. “I still don’t see why you killjoys stopped me. One less politician in the world.”

“It’s Christmas! You don’t murder people for Christmas.” 

“A holiday where you can’t kill people is a stupid holiday.” Carmilla looked away from Laura. There was no need to see that the journalist was still pissed. And it definitely was not the time to bring up that they were the ones in danger of being murdered for Christmas by a town stuck in the 1890s.

Laura looked down at her hands, her heart dropping at Carmilla’s words. Was it really too much to ask that one thing go right? A little remorse from her vampire would turn the crappy situation around. Laura broke out of her thoughts when she heard LaFontaine say that the mob might be moving away. Moving away was good. Moving away meant a certain increase in surviving and possibly turning Christmas around.

“Or at least not getting any closer.” Carmilla stood up, casting a glance back at Laura. The hopeful look was back. Deeming the villagers inconsequential for the time being, Carmilla braced herself, knowing that she didn’t want to lose the look again. Even if it meant she was going to have to try to talk to her angry and somewhat depressed girlfriend. “Well, I guess we can just hole up in here. Wherever here is.”

Laura felt her lips curving in a smile as Carmilla walked towards her, but the vampire’s words almost instantly clicked in her mind. “Hole up here? Well how long is that going to be?” She knew it was silly, and probably maddening to Carmilla, that she was preoccupied with Christmas and being worried for her father. But how else was she supposed to deal with the fact that her normal world view had been destroyed since stepping foot on Silas? She could accept a lot of weird, supernatural stuff, but she had to have something familiar to hold onto. Her father was her link to how the world used to be, what she was fighting for every time the Alchemy Club brought super carnivorous mushrooms to life or ancient undead evil threatened to eat her.

“Do you want to send the Bobbsey twins out there to ask them?” Carmilla sat down in the booth, next to Laura. She wouldn’t really send the gingers out. But it would have been nice if there wouldn’t be any witnesses to the sure to be ridiculous conversation with her oblivious girlfriend. Carmilla leaned in close to Laura, taking in the pouting face that could make her confess all her sins if she wasn’t careful.

“So we’re just stuck here indefinitely.” Laura felt her tears trying to break free as Carmilla nudged her shoulder. “Awesome.” She couldn’t break, so she looked away from Carmilla, doing her best to keep up her strong front. 

“What’s with you?” Carmilla pushed on so the sight of Laura’s doe eyes hitting her full force didn’t distract her. “Did one of those Styrian whackjobs graze you with a pitchfork?” She was sure that no one in the crowd had any weapons before their impromptu run, but a stab of uncertainty had her looking Laura over for any bruises or scrapes.

“No. No, I’m fine.” Laura had to look away. Having Carmilla close, asking her if any “Styrian whackjobs” had hurt her almost broke her resolve. They would be fine. She was fine, even relatively safe compared to the people who had stayed behind near campus.

Carmilla distantly heard Perry prattling on about something, but she was concerned with making sure that her tiny human wasn’t trying to stupidly hide any injuries in the name of heroism. She was the only one allowed to be injured and-or killed in the name of useless heroism. Carmilla listened, focusing in on her senses as she stared at the saddened expression before Laura turned away.

Carmilla didn’t smell a drop of blood, Laura’s pulse was healthy and steady. So it had to be whatever had been troubling her girlfriend previously that had Laura so distressed. Great. Back to square one, and an audience that was preparing snacks and hot chocolate for her sure to be humiliating attempt to comfort Laura. “All right, I’m probably going to regret this, but what’s wrong?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that we had to flee school and hike through the mountains.” Laura looked over, wondering if Carmilla really wanted to listen. Dark tired, loving, eyes unwaveringly stared back. “And there’s no cell coverage, so my dad probably thinks I died in an earthquake. And-” Laura had to stop, taking a breath as she held in her tears. Another glance at Carmilla had her peering deeply into the eyes of the only other person that she knew listened to her every word, solely out of sincere desire to know what she thought. “And there’s a mob chasing us, and it’s Christmas.”

Carmilla felt her face briefly show her moment of panic. The words: I fucked up. I fucked up, she’s gonna cry, them I’m gonna cry, raced through Carmilla’s mind. Laura plowed on though, allowing her to scramble for words that would make Laura smile.

“And I’m supposed to be watching the BBC Christmas specials with my dad, and-” Laura sucked in a quick breath of air, knowing if she looked at Carmilla again she would shatter completely, right into the arms of the vampire who was unsure of whether they could hold her because of her earlier ranting about eating the mayor. “And making gingerbread and- and hot chocolate, and-” Glancing at the dark-haired beauty, Laura couldn’t rid herself of the images her words had brought to life in her mind. Carmilla baking with her, sipping cocoa while her dad warned them about how to start a proper fire in the fireplace. Laura sucked in a deep, stale gust of oxygen, trying not to think of how their first Christmas together would never be what she had pictured. Carmilla didn’t even want to wear a sweater. “And you think all that’s stupid.”

“And useless and sentimental, but when has that ever stopped you before?” Easily falling back on her sarcastic wit, Carmilla tried to think of how she could give Laura the holiday despite their current circumstances. Wrapping her arm around Laura’s shoulder, Carmilla smiled as she leaned in, wanting nothing more than to pull the smaller girl into her arms. “Come on, we’ll stick candles in expired East German snack cakes and we’ll have our own Christmas.”

Laura felt her eyes shining again, the idea sounding terrible and amazing at the same time. “Yeah. It’s not the same.” Before she could go on, memories of past Christmases flickered through Laura’s mind. The vague idea of sharing some of those experiences with Carmilla taking over her mind completely, even as she watched two mugs slide in front of them from seemingly out of nowhere.

“Was someone just here?” Carmilla could have sworn she felt another presence, but it was gone. Nothing in the diner was out of place that they hadn’t touched. Had that pontificating speciest only had gin in his veins?

“Were those here before?” Laura looked to Carmilla for an answer, distinctly not thinking about the whine-fest she had let herself indulge in. Which was so totally undeserved when she was safe and Carmilla was alive.

Now that Laura had pointed it out, Carmilla was sure that the mugs of cider hadn’t been on the table. She sat quietly, keeping her grip around Laura as she focused on their surroundings. Hearing one of the gingers wave something towards them, Carmilla turned to find a tray of doughnuts extended in their direction. Had that even been one of the foods the duo mentioned when they had started routing around for the hot chocolate?

“Corn syrup and triglycerides, baby.”

“Normally I’m not a fan of mass produced confections, but these- are amazing?”

“Remember those cookies your mom used to make for Hanukkah?”

Carmilla was already turning to see if the moron’s confection-induced jabber about parents had affected Laura, when she heard the silent sigh. Not that it mattered, the human was staring at her so desolately that she wouldn’t have needed any of her preternatural abilities. Where the hell was the cocoa Perry had mentioned earlier.

“Oh yes, remember those ones with the little candy cane bits, and-”

Carmilla felt a wave of something cloud her mind, memories of bringing Laura cocoa, all the times she had fixed the covers Laura kicked off while asleep, and drifting off into an almost catatonic state so she could protect the munchkin from nightmares hurdled through her mind. Carmilla felt her head drooping at the uncontrollable thoughts, instinctively pulling Laura closer until their foreheads touched. She just needed a second to find her way back. She had time to fight it if she could feel Laura .

“That’s kinda weird.”

Carmilla looked at LaFontaine, their words reminding her that something hadn’t felt right. She slowly let her arm drop from around Laura’s shoulder, faintly remembering something about a strange presence.

“Can I help you girls.”

Carmilla refused to admit that she had been taken aback by the appearance of the strange woman. She had not jumped like the three humans. How the hell did someone get in without her noticing? The pressure of Laura’s hand on her thigh was the only thing keeping her from vaulting over the table to eviscerate the intruder.

“Sorry. We just, didn’t know anyone else was here, what with the dust and the spiders and everything.”

Fighting the urge to pull Laura against her side again, Carmilla eyed the weird giant Austrian suspiciously. An urge made remarkably harder to contain when Laura let go of her, seemingly delighted by the tackily dressed weirdo and her story.

Oh, joy, a disaster story involving reindeer. Before Carmilla could begin to question the woman’s sanity, the walking Christmas ad started listing everyone’s favorite treats. Carmilla shrugged when the woman stumbled, trying to figure out why blood was her favorite treat. What did she care, the moment of confusion only confirmed her thoughts that the woman wasn’t human. Carmilla was debating if the woman was a witch or a seer when a plate of gingerbread slid across the table to them from out of nowhere. Yup, witch.

“That’s amazing!”

“Try the gingerbread, it’s my specialty.”

Carmilla wanted to scream. She knew there was no way Laura’s overbearing father hadn’t drilled the don’t take candy from strangers line into Laura’s head. No, she wasn’t bitter that some dumb gingerbread cookies apparently could cheer up her girlfriend when she had failed miserably. “Oh, really, so when I offer it’s all: you don’t understand, Carmilla. Oh, you can’t kill people for Christmas, Carmilla. But some old diner lady hauls her creepy gingerbread in- her really creepy gingerbread.” Carmilla stared at the deformed and bloody cookie, an old fairytale coming to mind.

The story of a witch filling children on sweets, to fatten them up, slowly rose through the three hundred plus years of Carmilla’s memories as Laura talked to the witch. She looked at the gingerbread cookie while the woman listed more food to try to get Laura to eat the creepy candy. Carmilla opened her mouth, unsure if Laura or the others would even believe her.

“Well, once the customers stop coming certain sacrifices had to be made.”

Casting a look in the gingers’ direction, Carmilla wondered if the cookies were even safe to eat. The duo continued to stuff their faces with cookies, worrying Carmilla even more. Something was definitely wrong if Perry hadn’t reacted at all to the mention of a dead husband and the mysterious disappearance of the woman’s helpers. As the witch talked, Carmilla devised a plan. Last time she hadn’t told Laura about the danger, so this time, she would. “Um, can I borrow you for a second?” 

“Yeah, sure!” Carmilla ignored the relief coursing through her that Laura wasn’t enthralled by the creepy cookies, although she was worried that the tiny human was so cheery. Turning her back on Giant Witchy Longstocking, Carmilla waited for Laura to lean in so they couldn’t be heard.

“You want a cookie?”

“Uh maybe later?” Lip curling in disgust, Carmilla shot Laura a disbelieving look. “You don’t think any of this is suspicious?”

“Any of what?”

“The magical treats, the angry mob too scared to come in here. The gingerbread dioramas of doom?” Did Laura just roll her eyes at her? Carmilla was starting to regret this whole sharing thing.

“Please, she is literally Mama Clause. A sweet lady who, likes, Christmas.”

Carmilla couldn’t believe her girlfriend’s Perry-like levels of obliviousness to the witch trying to kill them with cookies. “Have you seen those things?!”

“Okay, just because you hate the holidays-”

“This isn’t about me hating Christmas.” Carmilla didn’t follow Laura right away as the journalism major turned back in the booth to grab another cookie, too caught up in how apparently it was still her fault Christmas was ruined. She had suggested putting candles in snack cakes for god’s sake.

“Fine. Whatever you say, Scrooge McVampire.” Carmilla snatched the cookie away before Laura could take another bite. She was finished with talking. If Laura was going to act like a toddler, she would treat her like one.

“Seriously? Fine. There’s plenty more merry where that came from.” 

Carmilla ignored the warmth flaring up along her body as Laura brushed by her to get away. Letting herself drop down onto the booth, Carmilla let out a gust of unneeded air, beyond frustrated with all of the humans at the moment. “You two were a lot of help.” Casting a dark glare over her shoulder at the duo, Carmilla saw Laura go straight to the gingerbread platter. 

“Weird, Christmas hating vampire! She probably goes around pretending to be Krampus and telling kids Santa dies in their chimneys!”

Hearing the diatribe perfectly, Carmilla decided to let the idiots eat their weight in gingerbread cookies. It would probably be easier to save them anyway if they weren’t trying to jump into the middle of fights.

“Um, guys? How many of these cookies have you eaten?” 

Picking up on the slight tremor in Laura’s tone, Carmilla mockingly mouthed the words to the pile of fucked up cookies in front of her. No, it’s completely normal for cookies to magically appear, Laura. Of course it’s all right to eat a plate of cookies that slide over to you with no help whatsoever, Laura.

“A truly alarming quantity.” LaFonataine answered, their voice muffled, still eating cookie after cookie.

“I think I’d like to stop now. I’m starting to feel like I’m made of cookies.” 

“Oh, crap.”

Flicking her finger, decapitating a truly repulsive cookie, Carmilla wondered if she could tie the trio up and take care of the witch on her own.

“Why aren’t you eating, dear? It’s Christmas time. Indulge yourself.” 

Grabbing up another cookie, Carmilla raised it so it was towering over the others next to the gingerbread house. Yeah, Laura, indulge yourself while completely ignoring your vampire girlfriend who already saved you once today. Oh, what? I shouldn’t use cookies to mock you, puppets are the only acceptable method of re-enacting traumatic events?

“Um, I’m just so worried about my sugar intake what with heart health and-and diabetes.”

Carmilla tossed the cookie down with the rest as the gingers ran past her. Well, that took care of two people she had to watch out for if it turned out the witch had any powers.

“Yeah, just so we’re clear here, you totally turn people into gingerbread and eat them, don’t you?”

“It’s been so long since Mama had a Christmas feast. I’ll roast you like those tasty reindeer.”

The sound of an arm clawing through the air pretty much clinched it for Carmilla that the witch didn’t have any supernatural abilities, so she stayed in her seat when she heard Laura trip over her own feet.

“Yup. Okay. Carmilla!”

“Oh, Really? ‘Cause I wouldn’t want to ruin your holiday fun.” Carmilla let her annoyance drip through as she spoke, pretending not to see Ginger 1 and Ginger 2 return with brooms and a rolling pin. What was with these humans, always trying to attack undead beings with cooking utensils?

“Evil Christmas lady trying to eat me here!” 

“You know, with all my inappropriate mayor biting and talk about murdering people for Christmas.” Carmilla was unimpressed, unwilling to jump in unless Laura asked her to kill the witch. She was not about to be blamed for actually killing someone on Christmas. 

“Murder her for Christmas. Murder her for Christmas!”

Carmilla gracefully flicked her hand, making sure she didn’t have cookie-people entrail crumbs on her hand. She knew she had made her point. Breathing out an ‘okay’, Carmilla got up to her feet before transforming into her panther form and lunging at the witch. Not that she actually needed Laura’s permission to murder people.  
****

Hauling the disemboweled corpse into the kitchen by her claws, Carmilla let the body drop to the floor once she cleared the door. She shifted back to her human form, unable to remain in her animal state due to the waning blood left in her system. Carmilla looked around the kitchen, quickly spotting a cluster of mops they could use on the bloody floor of the diner. 

Laura tried her best to enter the room casually, knowing that Carmilla had heard her, even if the vampire was busy grabbing some mops. “Hey.”

Carmilla watched Laura for a moment, her bangs hiding her gaze. “Hey yourself, cupcake.” Grabbing a dishtowel, she wiped her bloody hands.

Laura wandered over to her girlfriend and leaned against a stove close to Carmilla. “So, thanks for saving me- saving us, after all the things I said to you earlier.”

Carmilla shrugged, tossing the towel on the stove while she grabbed the mops. “You know I didn’t save you so you would thank me.”

Nodding, Laura lightly bit her bottom lip, her hand playing along the edge of the stove, fighting the need to touch the vampire. “Perry and Laf said they could clean up since we weren’t much help.”

“Knock yourselves out.” Carmilla pushed the mops into Laura’s hand, moving back to the body. She wasn’t eager to try to talk again. Loving the idiot was going to mean years of frustration, there was no need to drive herself crazy by pushing when Laura didn’t want to talk.

“Okay.” Laura held the mops to her chest for a moment, following Carmilla with her eyes, hoping she hid her disappointment. “Yeah, all right. I’m just going to get these out there so we can clean up.” Rushing out the door, Laura cringed, remembering how she’d accused Carmilla of hating Christmas. She wasn’t sure how to apologize for shutting Carmilla out when the vampire had tried so hard to open herself up. 

Depositing the mops next to the cash register, Laura let her head drop down onto the counter with a groan. Carmilla might have been sarcastic during the attack, but she knew it had only been a coping mechanism for her earlier rants, basically having told Carmilla that her girlfriend wasn’t a good enough replacement, couldn’t give her a nice Christmas. Which was completely her fault.

“Guys?” Laura straightened up and looked at Laf and Perry, the duo scuttling around the diner and getting rid of the remaining gingerbread. “Are you still okay with cleaning this on your own?”

“Go on.” LaFontaine put their hand on Perry’s and smiled at Laura. “I’m still trying to talk her out of dusting.”

Perry gave LaFontaine a look. “I don’t care if we’re not going to be here for long. I’m sure the villagers would appreciate us cleaning up, so there’s no reason we should live with it for a few days.”

Laura almost smiled at the line, quietly thanking the two before she slipped back into the kitchen. Finding Carmilla sitting atop a counter, Laura ducked her head down. “So, I’m sorry about the whole Christmas thing.” She peeked out of the corner of her eyes, knowing it was a horrible start to her apology, but she had to respect it if Carmilla had finally hit her limit of being rebuffed every time the vampire tried to talk.

Carmilla stared at Laura, letting her feet swing back and forth. “Pretty sure that was the cookies’ fault, buttercup.” 

“No.” Laura hurried over to Carmilla, her mouth still moving. “Yes, but no. I meant before the witch showed up. I shouldn’t have been angry with you about the mayor, I’m sure there is a perfectly good explanation.”

Carmilla looked down as Laura placed a hand on her thigh while the girl continued to babble. “Laura.”

“I know. You’ve never bit someone in the time that I’ve known you, not without a reason. And I should have asked you about it privately instead of just blowing up and wallowing about how much I want to be back at home with my dad.” Laura paused to breathe, finally meeting Carmilla’s gaze with her own since her girlfriend hadn’t reacted in any way.

“And I really don’t think that you hate Christmas per se, but that’s not the point. You were super sweet and offered snack cakes and, and what kind of vampire does that? So I know you get how important it is to me. I never meant to make you think that you aren’t an important part of why I wanted that Christmas so much, especially after what happened on campus before we had to leave.”

“I’m an idiot.” Carmilla wrapped her arms around Laura’s shoulder as she shook her head, finally realizing why Laura had been so weird since leaving Silas. “You feel guilty.”

“What? No!” Laura tried to laugh it off, gulping momentarily as Carmilla refused to look away. “I mean, maybe? Not like guilt, guilt. We had to leave. It wasn’t like I imagined us running away or anything.”

Carmilla pulled Laura in closer, hugging the smaller girl to her. “It’s okay to feel guilty, Laura. I knew you didn’t mean it when you suggested it at first.”

“Really?” Laura pulled away, Carmilla’s dark eyes instantly capturing her.

“Really.” Carmilla let herself down, standing face to face with Laura. “You spent three months searching for your roommate, cupcake. It’s kinda obvious that you would want to go back and finish what we started.”

“Wow.” Laura couldn’t hide her tiny smile, unthinkingly reaching for and holding onto Carmilla’s hand without ever looking away. “It’s kinda weird how you knew, or maybe it isn’t because we’re together? But how did you know?”

“Three hundred years of experience here, cutie.” Carmilla wryly smiled and held both of Laura’s hands in her own. “As much as I’ll deny it if you ever tell anyone, I know how consuming guilt can be. Besides, it was only a matter of time before you got bored with the normalcy outside of Silas.”

Laura felt herself grinning, more than a little amazed that her bigger-walls-than-the-Great-Wall-of-China vampire was so insightful despite her own less than forthcoming behavior. “Is it crazy that all I want is to go back? After I text my dad of course, and let him know that I’m fine before we batten down the hatches and figure out a way to destroy that suped up mirrorball for good?”

“Definitely crazy.” Carmilla chuckled, releasing Laura’s hand and tucking back an errant selection of chestnut hair behind Laura’s ear. Returning the brightness of Laura’s smile, Carmilla brought her hand down to cup Laura’s cheek. “But I don’t expect anything less from you.” 

Laura leaned up, kissing Carmilla a few times before enveloping her girlfriend in a hug. She wondered if she had to say that she had wanted to run for Carmilla’s sake, not wanting to lose her again. Tightening her hold on the deceptively strong girl, Laura kept her mouth shut, thinking that it was too soon to tell Carmilla how much she cared for her, that wanting to go back didn’t mean that she loved Carmilla any less.

“Although,” Carmilla drew the word out as she pulled back from the embrace. “Now I know I should have plied you with cookies instead of flirting with you these past few months.”

Feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment, Laura giggled and ended the hug, backing up to put some space between them. “I’m going to go vlog about the witch. Gotta keep everyone informed, right?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, cutie.” Carmilla winked, doing her best not to laugh as Laura’s blush deepened before the human rushed out the door. Glancing over to the corpse Laura had somehow avoided without watching out for it, Carmilla smiled. Trying wasn’t so bad if Laura smiled at her so genuinely every time she managed to be a good girlfriend. It was just an added bonus that she still got a snack, one that didn’t smell of gin at all. She did have to make sure that the witch couldn’t come back to life, Carmilla was sure it was part of the hero’s code or some crap like that.  
****


End file.
